Today we think of the lone artist working in his or her shop, crafting a piece of art. But this is a very modern idea of how art is made. Even into the twentieth century, a master craftsman would have a shop of journeymen and apprentices working away. Most of the mundane work, and work which could be trusted to unsteady hands, would be done by less skilled people trying to learn the trade. Traditional apprenticeships are not possible in today's labour market, so the modern artist must rely on new forms of cheap labour…

In my shop I employ CNC tools to help me out. They do the mundane, repetitive work I don't want to do, and which they excel at. Below is a short video of my CNC mill hard at work milling the wax for a Gothic overlay.